Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy

On-line since: 17th January, 2000

LECTURE I.

Christiania, 2nd June, 1912.

My dear Friends,

WE have spoken together in earlier lecture cycles on many important
subjects that arise in connection with the theosophical outlook on the
world. On the present occasion we have chosen a subject that is among
the very most important of all for theosophical life and thought
 man himself. For every branch of human knowledge this is a
subject of the first importance and value, and for theosophy
unquestionably so. In theosophy there should really be a fresh feeling
of what the Greek understood by the word Anthropos. If we
would find a true modern rendering of the Greek word, we might say
one who looks up into the heights. This is the definition
of man which finds expression in the word anthropos,
 he who looks up into the heights to find the source and origin
of his life. Such is man, according to the Greek. To recognise man as
a being of this nature is the very raison d'être of
theosophy, Theosophy wants to rise above the details of sense
existence and of the outer activity of life, into the heights of
spiritual experience where we are able to learn whence man has come
and whither he is going. Man himself, rightly the object of study for
every world outlook, must pre-eminently be so for theosophy.

In this cycle of lectures we propose to consider man in his spiritual
nature from three standpoints from which a study of man has been
pursued in every serious world-conception, although in ordinary
external life they do not generally find the same recognition. I refer
to the standpoints of occultism, theosophy and philosophy.

Now it is obvious that we shall first have to come to an understanding
together of what these three words mean. When we speak of occultism,
then for the majority of the educated world today we are speaking of
something totally unknown. For ordinary everyday life occultism, in
its original and proper form, has always been something secret and
hidden. Occultism starts, indeed, from the idea that in order to come
to a knowledge and experience of his own being, man cannot remain at
the kind of vision that ordinary consciousness affords, but must go
forward to an altogether different vision, an altogether different
kind of knowledge.

Let me make this clear by a comparison. We live perhaps in a certain
town and we see the experiences of a few individuals in that town. If
the town is a fairly large one, we really know nothing more than a few
small details of all that is to be seen and known in it. Suppose we
want to take a survey of the whole town. We must seek out some
elevated position in the environment whence to obtain a view such as
we never could have so long as we remained in the town. And if we want
to connect up and survey the whole intellectual and moral life of the
place then we shall have to betake ourselves to a spiritual height
above the experiences of every day.

This is the very thing man has to do when he wants to get beyond the
experiences of ordinary consciousness, for these experiences show him
in reality only a part of what goes to make the whole of life in all
its connections. Knowledge must go out beyond itself; it must ascend
to a vantage point above ordinary consciousness and ordinary
knowledge. It follows naturally that the details  in all their
intensity of colour and light and shade  tend to disappear. When
we go up to a height in order to get a wider view over some town, we
see it as a whole and lose the finer details that a closer individual
experience can afford. It is the same with a point of view that is
raised above ordinary consciousness. It has to forgo a great deal that
belongs to the more detailed and individual part of life. But it gives
on the other hand something that is of first importance for a
knowledge of the nature of man, it gives a Vision of that which lies
at the very foundation of man's nature and is the same in all men.

The only way to arrive at such a vantage point is to undertake a path
of development and attain what is usually called clairvoyant
knowledge. You can read about it in books on the subject and learn
what souls have to do in order to come to clairvoyant knowledge. You
will find described how the ordinary means of knowledge 
perception with the senses and reflection with the ordinary faculty of
understanding and judgment  are here not enough; and it is shown
how these have to be overcome and superseded. Quite new means of
acquiring knowledge, means that lie hidden in the soul like a seed in
the earth, have to be discovered and developed.

You will probably already have learned from the literature on the
subject that three stages are to be distinguished on the path to
clairvoyant or occult knowledge. The first is the stage of Imaginative
knowledge, the second the stage of Inspired knowledge, and the third
that of Intuitive knowledge. If we wanted to describe in popular
language the results of the self-knowledge attained by means of
Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition, we should have to say that it
enables man to behold things that are hidden from ordinary
consciousness. In order to bring home to you in a simple manner what
is attained in occult knowledge and clairvoyant vision, I need only
point to the contrast between sleeping and waking. When he is awake
man has around him the world of the senses, it forms his environment,
and he judges it with his intellect and his other faculties of
knowledge. When he enters into the condition of sleep, then
consciousness  that is, ordinary consciousness  is
darkened But man does not cease to be when he falls asleep, nor come
newly into being when he wakes up. Man is alive in the time that
passes between falling asleep and awakening; only, he has not
sufficient strength and energy of soul to perceive what is in his
environment when he is asleep. To put it in another way, man's powers
of knowledge require to be sharpened by the physical organs, the
senses and the nerves before he can become aware of what is in his
environment. At night when man is away from his sense organs and his
nervous system, the forces in the soul are too weak for him to be able
to rouse himself and perceive his environment. Now it is possible,
through the means employed for training in occult knowledge, to bring
the soul, which is too weak in the night to perceive its environment,
into a condition where it can under certain circumstances perceive
even when it is in the state of ordinary sleep. In this way there is
opened to man's perception a new and wider world; one might say 
only the expression is from a certain aspect unjustified  a
higher world.

We have thus to do with a change in the soul, and a change that is in
the direction of strengthening the inner forces of the soul,
increasing the soul's energy. As this change comes about, man learns
to know what is the real nature of that which goes out of the body in
sleep and comes into it again on awakening. He learns that the part of
him which is outside the body during sleep contains that inner seed
and kernel of his being, which enters into the body at birth and
passes out of it again when he goes through the gate of death.
Further, man comes to know that during the time between death and a
new birth he lives in the world of soul and spirit. In short, he
learns to have knowledge that is spiritual and he becomes familiar
with an environment which is of a spiritual nature and hidden from
ordinary consciousness. In the spiritual world lie the foundations of
all existence, including physical existence; so that by following the
path of occult knowledge man acquires the faculty to behold the
deepest and original foundations of existence. He is, however, only
able to acquire this faculty by first himself undergoing change; he
has to become a different kind of knower from what he is
in ordinary consciousness.

Occultism can only find its way to man, when man sets out to apply to
his own soul the means that are given for attaining occult knowledge.
It has lain in the very nature of things up to the present time 
you will often find indications of it in literature  that it was
not the concern of every single human being so to educate himself as
to be able to have direct vision of the spiritual world and penetrate
to the original foundations of existence. The means to do so were
imparted only to small circles of persons, and strict care was taken
that before a man was given the means of attaining occult knowledge,
he should have a preparation and training which would make him ripe to
apply these means to his own soul.

It is easy to understand why this had to be. Higher occult knowledge
leads, as we have seen, to the foundations of all existence, it leads
to the world from which our world is derived and made. At the same
time man acquires faculties he did not have before; and so, when he
becomes able to penetrate to the foundations of existence, he is in a
position to execute deeds that cannot be carried out with the ordinary
means of knowledge. To make myself clear, I must here refer to a fact
on which I shall have more to say later: for the moment, I only want
to cite it to demonstrate how impossible it was to give occult
knowledge into the hands of everyone. Man has to have egoism
implanted into him during Earth evolution. Without egoism he could not
fulfil his task on Earth, for his task on Earth consists in evolving
from egoism into love; through love he has to ennoble and subdue and
spiritualise egoism. At the end of Earth evolution man will be
permeated through and through with love, but he could never evolve up
to this love in freedom, had not egoism been implanted into his nature
from the beginning. Now, egoism is in the highest degree dangerous and
harmful when it is a question of undertaking to perform some deed
behind the world of ordinary consciousness. The whole history of man
is filled with egoism, and endless harm has been wrought by it in
ordinary life; but all the trouble that is due to egoism in ordinary
life is a mere trifle in comparison with the harm and trouble it
causes if it is able to work with occult knowledge. It has, therefore,
always been required of those to whom means of occult knowledge were
imparted that they should have a character so thoroughly disciplined
and prepared that, let the temptation be ever so great, they would
never work in the sense of egoism. That was the first and
all-important requirement in the preparation for occult knowledge.
Anyone admitted to such knowledge must be quite incapable of allowing
the occult to be misused for an egoistic end. Naturally this meant
that only a very few in the whole course of evolution could be chosen
for reception into the occult schools, which in olden times were
called Mysteries  and sometimes also known under other names.

The occult knowledge to which these few attained had definite
characteristics and qualities. The characteristic of which I am now
going to speak is in our own time undergoing change, but it has been
common to all rightly named occult schools hitherto It is this. In the
occult schools, where the means of occult knowledge were imparted to
men, among the many things that had to be overcome in the process of
overcoming egoism, it was required of the pupil that he should not
speak in the Mysteries or occult schools with ordinary words, that he
should not try to make himself understood with the words that are
current in the life of external consciousness. For a kind of refined
and higher egoism enters into man as soon as he makes use of the words
and thoughts and ideas that are employed in external life. At once
there come into consideration all the things in a man that do not let
us see him as a human being pure and simple, but as a member of a
particular folk or people, with all the egoisms that belong to him
through the fact that he loves his own folk. These are quite justified
in ordinary life. For external consciousness men must have these
refined and higher egoisms; they are among the most praiseworthy
qualities of human life. But for the highest knowledge, for the all
human knowledge that has to be sought behind the life of ordinary
consciousness, we may not bring with us even these refined and higher
egoisms. Special preparation had therefore to be given in the occult
schools, by the creation and study of an all-human language. The
language of ordinary life was not used in occult schools, but a
language that worked upon the human being in quite a different way.
For it was a language that worked not by means of words and thoughts
as is the case with ordinary knowledge, but by means of
symbols. Those of you who know mathematics will readily
understand why symbols were chosen for this purpose; for symbols have
a universal meaning. By developing oneself up to the stage of a
language that speaks in symbols, one was able to come right out beyond
all the egoism that confuses judgment and clouds ordinary
consciousness, beyond even the higher egoisms of which we have spoken.
This meant however, that what one was able to say was comprehensible
only to those who had first learned the language. The language
consisted of symbols that could be drawn, or traced with movements of
the hand in rituals, or expressed in colour combinations and so forth.
In occult schools, not what was imparted in words was of importance
 that was only preparatory  but what was spoken in
symbols, independent of ordinary human words, independent even of
ordinary human thoughts. Thus, the first step to be taken in an occult
school was the study of a symbol language.

In very ancient times those who were initiated in the Mysteries were
under strict injunction not to betray to people outside anything of
the Mystery language; for if a man who was outside the Mysteries were
to get to know the symbols and were clever enough, he might come to
possess  all unprepared  a means to occult knowledge. The
creation of the symbols provided the possibility of a language common
to all men. The keeping secret of the symbols prevented the knowledge
that was expressed in them from reaching those who were unripe to
receive it. Thus, through the very fact that one was obliged to speak
and use a symbolic language, provision was at the same time made
against Mystery knowledge being communicated indiscriminately. True
Mystery knowledge, true occultism, was a knowledge that was kept
guarded in the secret schools of the Mysteries and had to be attained
by the development of occult faculties. It was a knowledge that by its
nature belonged to all mankind; nevertheless it was always limited to
narrow circles of people in the way I have described.

There is still another reason why occultism could not be communicated
to mankind at large. Just as truly as it is necessary in the first
place to be free of egoism if one is to be allowed to penetrate the
world that opens to occult vision, so truly does man find it
impossible, when his power of knowledge has been transformed and he
has become able to look into that totally different world, to make use
there of the ideas and conceptions to which he is accustomed. The
creation of symbols serves, then, this further purpose: it provides a
means whereby one can express what cannot be expressed with ordinary
human words and ideas. For the human being can only apply himself to
occultism when he is not orientated to the senses and the brain, but
is outside them. All ordinary words, however, are connected in their
origin with the brain, they spring from outer observation; when
therefore a man perceives a fact of occult knowledge, he at once feels
how impossible it is to give expression to it with ordinary words.
Occult knowledge is a knowledge that is attained outside the body. To
give it expression by the use of means that are attained through the
body is, on the face of it, at the beginning of occult knowledge quite
impossible.

Occult knowledge is, however, not merely there to be acquired by a few
persons who are curious; its whole content is something that is
essential and of the very first importance for all mankind. Occult
knowledge is the experience of the foundations of existence and in
especial of the foundations of human existence, and it must enter
right into life. Means must be found to carry occult knowledge right
into the life of man and to bring it within the comprehension of
people generally.

The first means employed to make occult knowledge comprehensible is,
and always has been, what has in more recent times been called
theosophy. In turning it into theosophy, one has to forgo what we have
just seen to be an essential characteristic of occult knowledge,
namely, that it makes use only of the very highest form of language.
One abandons this restriction and proceeds to clothe occult truths in
ordinary human words and ideas. Occult knowledge is communicated, for
example, to a particular people in a form that employs the ideas and
concepts current among this people. The result is that occult
knowledge becomes specific and differentiated, appearing in the form
of communications made through the words of one section of mankind.
Those who were in possession of secret knowledge were obliged to
clothe it in the language of a particular people; and so we find
clothed in the language of particular peoples what is in reality the
property of all mankind.

In the Mysteries the aim has always been to remain as human as
possible, in the large sense of the word. At the same time the
initiates of the Mysteries had to make themselves understood, they had
to express themselves in the language of the people and in the ideas
that the people had developed. And so individual theosophists who have
come forward among mankind have had to take pains to make themselves
intelligible in regard to the particular aim and object or the
particular sphere of life about which they were speaking.

It is by no means easy to give expression in this way to occult
knowledge, in one particular language or in one particular form of
ideas. But it has been done and to no small extent, in various regions
of the earth and at various times in man's history. Occultism is a
thing into which one has to find one's way by means of clairvoyant
training and discipline. Theosophy, on the other hand, is a thing that
is presented to us in ideas and concepts that we have already and in
which occult knowledge has only been clothed When this has been ably
and correctly done, then occult truths are within the comprehension of
any man who has sound and healthy judgment and takes pains to master
them. Theosophy is absolutely understandable by anyone with a healthy
intelligence if he will but give himself the trouble We have no right
to say that he alone can grasp the occult who can himself develop
occult vision. When occult truths are clothed in ideas, as they are in
theosophy, they are within the scope of every healthy human
intelligence.

Now in accordance with laws that prevail in the evolution of mankind
(we shall have more to say about these later on) there came a time
when a further change was necessary. In the far-off past of evolution
we find among the most ancient peoples (I do not refer here to the
decadent peoples that an un-understanding anthropology calls
primeval, but to the really original peoples of which
spiritual science tells)  among these original peoples we find
Mysteries and occult schools which communicated occult knowledge to a
few individuals, and we find also a more widely communicated
theosophy, that is to say, occult truths clothed in familiar ideas.
But as time goes on, we observe a change. Whereas hitherto almost the
only way in which man could approach the first foundations of
existence had been in the form of theosophy, that form began now to
pass over into one that was more religious in character. It was
recognised that while it is true that the healthy human understanding,
if it will only go far enough, can quite well grasp theosophy, yet
with the progress of human life it was becoming no longer always
possible for men to adopt the comprehensive point of view of a healthy
human understanding, and provision had also to be made for those who,
simply through the conditions of external life, had no possibility of
developing their intelligence far enough to enable them to penetrate
occult truths. A way had to be found whereby such could attain a kind
of faith knowledge of the foundations of existence.

The Mysteries had already what may be called a feeling
knowledge, and out of this developed now the religious form of
knowledge, which became for later times the more popular and more
accessible form of knowledge in comparison with the theosophical. When
we go back a long way in the evolution of mankind, we find a world
conception which has not a religious character,  in the sense in
which we understand the word today. In the first Post-Atlantean epoch,
the ancient Indian, we find an occult knowledge of which the people
were able to partake in the form of theosophy. For this far-off Indian
time, religion coincides with theosophy. When we trace
back the evolution of religion, we find at its starting point
theosophy. With the progress of evolution it became more and more
necessary to make use of the religious form of knowledge. It could no
longer be assumed that man with his healthy human understanding could
have insight into what theosophy was able to give. And so the truths
of theosophy began to be poured into a new mould and became the truths
of religion.

Passing on to more recent times, we find that in Christianity the
change becomes complete,  the change, that is, from the
theosophical form of knowledge to the religious. In the various
Christian churches and creeds as they have developed through the
centuries, very little trace of theosophy is to be found. The
theosophy of the old kind has disappeared into the background, and we
see how with the development of Christianity develops also a theology;
so that in time we have in addition to faith a theology, whilst
theosophy becomes an object, if not of hatred, at any rate of
antipathy, to the theologians.

A third form in which man's strivings after the foundations of
existence have been clothed is the philosophical. Occult knowledge is
acquired by the human being in so far as he is free from the physical
body. Theosophy expresses occult knowledge in external thoughts and
external words. Philosophy strives to reach to the foundations of the
world with instruments of knowledge which, though refined and subtle
in quality, are nevertheless bound to the physical brain. Philosophy,
as we find it in the essentially philosophical epoch of human
evolution, does not set out, as does theosophy, to hand on that which
has been acquired outside the physical body; philosophy tries, in so
far as may be, to approach the foundations of existence by means of
man's ordinary faculties of knowledge. The truths of philosophy are
thus striven after with faculties of knowledge which, though of the
subtlest, are yet connected with the body. Philosophy has, at bottom,
the same goal as occultism and theosophy, namely, to search out the
foundations of existence; but philosophy makes use of the thinking and
the means of research that are bound up with the brain and with outer
perception. With the aid of these it sets out to delve into the
foundations of existence. And, working as it does with the subtlest
and finest knowledge faculties of man, philosophy remains perforce the
concern only of a few. Philosophy can never become popular. A great
many people feel philosophy to be something that is much too difficult
for them,  if not tiresome and tedious!

Now the aforesaid characteristic of philosophy is important, 
that it works with knowledge faculties which are bound up with the
senses, and that it chooses of these the subtlest and the most
refined. For, in so far as it employs means that are connected with
the personality, philosophy has inevitably a personal character. When,
however, man really succeeds in excercising the very subtlest of his
knowledge faculties, it becomes possible for him to throw off
something of the personal element; and in the degree that he is able
to do this, philosophy becomes universal, all-human. One needs to
enter very deeply into philosophy to be able to detect its universal
character. Its personal character is unfortunately only too obvious.
It requires deep penetration to perceive fundamental principles that
are common to such apparently different thinkers, for example, as the
ancient Greek philosophers Parmenides and Heraclitus. One can however
quickly appreciate the difference between these and an unkindly critic
like Schopenhauer who approaching merely the external side of
philosophy, sees only what splits it up into many different personal
standpoints, and does not see the sequence of these personal
human standpoints.

In this sense philosophy is the very reverse of occultism. Philosophy
has to be attained by the most personal of means, whereas
occultism is achieved by laying aside personality. Therefore is it so
difficult for one who gives utterance in correct philosophical manner
to what is personal in him to be understood by his fellowmen. On the
other hand, anyone who succeeds in clothing occultism in expressions
and ideas that are current and generally comprehensible, will meet
with understanding all the world over. Occultism strips itself
entirely of the personal element. Systems of philosophy arise directly
out of the personal in man; occultism arises out of the impersonal and
is on this account capable of general comprehension. And when it is a
question of expressing occultism in terms of theosophy, the endeavour
is always made to speak to every human heart and every human soul, and
in large measure this can be done.

The foregoing description of the three points of view may serve as a
kind of preparatory introduction to our studies, You will have been
able to see for yourselves what one may call the more external
characteristics of the occult, the theosophical and the philosophical
point of view.

Occultism is in its results one and the same for all mankind. In
reality there is no such thing as a difference of standpoint in
occultism,  any more than there are different mathematics. It is
only necessary in regard to any particular question to have the means
actually at hand to acquire knowledge on that question, and the
knowledge will be the same as is reached by everyone who has the right
means at his disposal. Thus, speaking in the ideal sense, we can just
as little admit the existence of different standpoints in occultism as
we can imagine there might be different standpoints in mathematics.
Consequently occultism, wherever it has made its appearance, has
always been recognised as single and universal. It is true that in the
various theosophies that have existed from time to time and have
supplied the outer cloak, so to speak, of occult truths, differences
show themselves; but that is because the truths have had to be clothed
differently for one folk or one epoch, than for another folk or
another epoch. In other words, the differences between the theosophies
that exist on the Earth lie in the manner of thought used to clothe
the occult truths. The foundations of occultism are always and
everywhere one and the same.

Religions, on the other hand, since they take their source in the
theosophical garment of occultism, have acquired differences in
respect of people and time. Occultism knows no such differentiations,
it knows nothing that might stir up opposition between man and man. No
cause for opposition exists, since occultism is the single undivided
property of all mankind. And inasmuch as theosophy should in our time
concern itself with the provision of a right and proper expression for
occultism, it too must take care to absorb as little as possible of
the differentiations that have manifested themselves in mankind. It
must set itself the aim of being a faithful expression of occult truth
and occult connections in so doing, it will inevitably also work for
the overthrow of all specialised world-conceptions and help to break
down religious differentiations. We must learn completely to overcome
the inclination to a theosophy of a definite stamp and colouring. It
has gradually come about in the history of evolution that theosophies
have tended to receive a certain nuance and colouring in accordance
 I will not say with religious prejudices, but with religious
preconceived feelings and opinions. Theosophy needs to keep constantly
in view its ideal,  to be a reflection of occultism. There can
therefore be no such thing as a Buddhist theosophy or a Hindu
theosophy, or a Zoroastrian or a Christian. Naturally, regard must be
had to the characteristic ideas and thoughts with which particular
people will approach theosophy. Nevertheless it must never let go its
ideal of being a pure expression for occult truth. It was, for
example, a repudiation of the fundamental principle of occultists all
the world over, when a theosophy made its appearance among certain
societies in Central Europe, calling itself a Christian
theosophy. As a matter of fact, you can just as little have a
Christian theosophy as a Buddhist theosophy or a Zoroastrian.

The relation theosophy has to assume to religion is that of an
expounder of its truths. For theosophy is in a position to understand
the truths of religion. And then forms and expressions of some
particular aspect of occultism and that occultism itself has to be
grasped independently of all such differentiations.

As I have pointed out, this must be our ideal. It is quite
understandable that occultism has been clothed in many and varied ways
the world over, even while all occultists are in agreement as to their
knowledge; it is nevertheless of great importance that in our time a
possibility should again be given for speaking with a single voice
about occultism. This can only be, if the goodwill is really present
to shake off once for all the differences that have their origin in
preconceived feelings and opinions. And it is encouraging to see how
already the desire is gaining ground for a general agreement on
elementary matters of occult knowledge. In regard, for instance, to
the knowledge of reincarnation and karma it will in the near future be
possible to attain something like universal agreement. As our
theosophy develops, it will, to begin with, concern itself first and
foremost with the spread over the whole earth of the great and
important truths of reincarnation and karma. For these truths are
destined to prevail; even religious prejudices will surrender before
them.

A great work for peace on earth would be accomplished if unity and
harmony could be established in regard to the higher realms of occult
knowledge. Let that stand before us as an ideal. It is hard of
attainment. When one reflects how intimately men are bound up with
their religious prejudices and with the whole way in which they have
been educated, one will readily perceive the difficulty of presenting
them with something that is not coloured with any religious prejudice
but is as faithful a picture as possible of occult knowledge.

Within certain limits we must be prepared to recognise that as long as
the Buddhist takes the standpoint of the Buddhist faith, he rejects
the standpoint of the Christian. And if theosophy takes on a Buddhist
colouring, then that Buddhist theosophy will quite naturally show
itself inimical, or at any rate unsympathetic, to occultism. We shall
also understand how difficult it is, in a realm where Christian forms
prevail, to come to an objective knowledge, let us say, of those
aspects of occultism which find expression in Buddhism Our ideal,
however, must always be to meet the one point of view with just as
much understanding as the other and to establish over the whole earth
a harmonious and peaceful relationship based on mutual comprehension.

The Buddhist and the Christian who have become theosophists will
understand one another, they will be sure to discover a standpoint
where they are in harmonious agreement. A theosophist has always
before him the ideal of a universal single occultism, free of all
religious prejudice. The Christian who has become a theosophist will
understand the Buddhist when he says: It is not possible that a
Bodhisattva who has passed from incarnation to incarnation and has at
length become Buddha (as happened in the particular case with the
death of Suddhodana) should afterwards return again into a human body.
For in becoming Buddha he has attained to such a lofty stage of human
evolution that he does not need ever to pass again into a human
body. The Christian will reply to the Buddhist:
Christianity has not up to the present given me any revelation
concerning Beings like Bodhisattvas, but as I strive after theosophy I
learn to recognise not only that you know this truth out of your
knowledge, but that I too must receive it as truth. For as
theosophist, the Christian will say to himself: I understand
what a Bodhisattva is, I know that the Buddhist speaks absolute truth
about these Beings, he utters a truth which could be spoken in lands
where Buddhism prevailed. I understand it when the Buddhist says that
a Buddha does not return again into a fleshly organism. The
Christian who has become a theosophist understands the Buddhist who
has become a theosophist. And if the Christian were now in his turn to
address the Buddhist, he could say: When one studies the
Christian faith in its true occult content, as it is studied in occult
schools, then one finds that the Being who is designated by the name
of Christ  the name of Christ may be quite unknown to the
other  is a Being who was never on earth before the time
of the Mystery of Golgotha. He is a Being
who can never come again in a physical body; for that would contradict
the whole nature of the Christ.

When the Buddhist who has become a theosophist hears this from the
Christian, he will answer him in the following way: Just as you
understand how impossible it is for me to admit that a Buddha, after
he has once become Buddha, can come again in a fleshly body, 
just as you understand me, recognising what has been imparted to me as
truth, so am I ready to recognise the share of truth that has been
communicated to you. I try to recognise what you receive from your
faith, namely, that at the beginning of Christianity stands, not so
much a Teacher, but a Deed, an Act. For the occultist places at
the beginning of Christianity not Jesus of Nazareth, but the Christ,
and he sets the actual moment of its beginning in the Mystery of
Golgotha.

Buddhism differs from Christianity in that it has a personal teacher
as its starting-point, whereas Christianity has a deed, the deed of
salvation and release, the deed accomplished by the death on the Cross
on Golgotha. Not a doctrine but a deed stands at the foundation of
Christian evolution. This the Buddhist theosophist understands, and he
receives what is given as the occult foundation of Christianity and in
doing so helps to establish harmony among mankind. He would be
breaking the harmony if he were to apply to Christianity his Buddhist
ideas. It is the part of the Christian, when he becomes theosophist,
to understand Buddhism out of Buddhism itself, not to re-mould in some
way of his own the ideas about Bodhisattva and Buddha, but rather to
understand them as they are contained in Buddhism. Similarly it is the
part of the Buddhist to receive the Christian ideas as they are, for
they form the occult foundations of Christianity. Just as it is
impossible to bring together the Being Who is named with the name of
Christ with Beings of a lower kind, namely with Bodhisattvas, so also
is it impossible, if we would remain loyal to the ideal of theosophy,
to allow theosophy to be anything else than a faithful reflection of
the single undivided occultism.

To apply the properties of a Bodhisattva to the Christ would be to
hinder the great mission of peace that it is given to theosophy to
fulfil. On the other hand, theosophy fulfils its mission of peace,
when it undertakes to bring to mankind the universal foundations of
truth in a scientific form such as is adapted for our day and
generation. When we in the West understand Buddhism or Brahmanism or
Zarathustrianism without prejudice, and when Christianity too is
understood in the way it needs to be understood, then it will be
possible for the really fundamental ideas of Christianity to find
recognition and response among men.

Mankind has not always risen to the perception of the fact that a deed
stands at the beginning of Christianity and that there can therefore
be no question of a return of the Christ. Again and again it has
happened in the course of the centuries that men have come forward and
spoken of a return of the Christ. Such teachings have always been
silenced and refuted, and they will be so again, for they run counter
to the great and universal mission of life and peace that it belongs
to theosophy to fulfil, if it would be a pure expression of occultism.
Occultism has always had the character of universality and is
independent of every Buddhist as well as of every Christian shade of
colouring. Hence it can understand objectively the Mussulman or the
Zoroastrian or the Buddhist, even as it can also the Christian. What I
have said will help you to see how it is that occultism, which is
universal, has come to assume in theosophy so many different forms in
the course of human evolution. And you will be able also to see why in
our time it is so important to hold up as the ideal, not that one form
of religion should gain the victory over the rest, but that all the
different forms of expression of religion should mutually understand
one another. The first condition for this, however, is that men should
come to an understanding of the occult foundations that are the same
for all religions.

My intention has been in this lecture to give a kind of introduction
to the important matters we shall have to consider in the following
days.